Neutrality

Telegram from Rudolph Forster to William Loeb

Assistant Secretary of State Forster writes to William Loeb about a message Forster received from U.S. Minister to China William Woodville Rockhill. The Chinese Emperor urges the United States to continue its work to bring peace between Japan and Russia, and to respect China’s territorial rights in any settlement. Rockhill has urged the Chinese government not to seek representation in the peace negotiations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-07-05

Letter from George von Lengerke Meyer to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador Meyer writes to President Roosevelt regarding two enclosed articles about Germany, Japan, and France. Meyer gives Roosevelt updates on military operations and discusses land ownership rights being granted to the Polish.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-05-16

Letter from Alvey A. Adee to William Loeb

Second Assistant Secretary of State Adee forwards copies of papers relating to Chinese neutrality to William Loeb for the use of President Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-24

Memorandum of interview with the Japanese minister and Mister Adee

A transcript of the interview between Acting Secretary of State Alvey A. Adee and the Japanese Minister regarding how the United States intends to handle the docking of the Russian cruiser Lena in San Francisco for repairs. Adee informs the minister that the State Department does not have the authority to enforce neutrality laws, but that the proper departments will deal properly with the cruiser after the necessity and extent of the repairs has been ascertained.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-13

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of State Adee informs President Roosevelt that the captain of the disabled Russian cruiser Lena has withdrawn his intimation of willingness to disarm the cruiser for repairs, pending conversation with Russian ambassador Arthur Paul Nicholas Cassini. Complete repairs to the ship’s boilers would take an estimated eight months, and the captain has suggested that he is willing to disarm the vessel and remain in port for the duration of the war. If this is done, Adee asks what the United States should do with the crewmembers.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-14

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of the Treasury Robert B. Armstrong has advised Acting Secretary of State Adee that the Japanese have requested that the Russian auxiliary cruiser Lena leave the San Francisco port within twenty-four hours. The collector of the port is inspecting the ship, which needs repairs, and is unsure whether he can assume authority in this situation. President Roosevelt could issue an order granting the collector the authority to deal with the situation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-12

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of State Adee informs President Roosevelt of the United States’s responsibilities regarding the Russian auxiliary cruiser Lena in light of its stated neutrality. The ship is in the port of San Francisco requesting repairs. The collector of the port should only allow repairs that would allow the ship to sail home, and not do repairs that would amount to a full rebuild. The Lena should only be provided with coal if Russia guarantees that the voyage home will be made “in good faith.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-12

Telegram from Rudolph Forster to William Loeb

Rudolph Forster informs William Loeb that the Russian minister has told him that Russia will no longer consider the Chinese government neutral.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-26

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of State Adee reports that John Fowler, the Consul of Chefoo, China, has been informed that the Chinese government has withdrawn all of their war vessels from Chefoo because they cannot enforce neutrality. Thus it would appear that “both belligerents” can infer that military operations can be conducted there. Adee does not believe any further instruction is required to Fowler, and he would like both Fowler and John Goodnow, the Consul of Shanghai, to be removed from any association with larger international implications.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-23

Memorandum from William Woodville Rockhill

Ambassador Rockhill provides additional information pertinent to efforts to localize the war in the Far East, which would require neutralization of territories that does not seem possible. A statement shared between China and Japan affirms China’s desire to remain neutral, although Rockhill notes that the arrival of neutral forces would disturb the people of China as well as the Imperial Court. The British and German governments do not agree with an interpretation of the 1900 Anglo-German treaty that would allow for the neutralization plan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-06

Raid in neutral ground

Reports indicate General Pavel I. Mischenko of Russia and his Cossack troops have deliberately invaded neutral territory in China. Because China seems unwilling to enforce its neutrality, it is believed that Japan must protect itself against the Russian raids that violate neutral territory.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01

Mr. Roosevelt is doing his best to be neutral in all the fights

President Roosevelt stands on “neutral ground” in the center of a variety of fights. Some of the fights include New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt and New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell; “Stand Pat” and “Reciprocity”; “Russia” and “Japan”; and “Uncle Sam” and “the trusts.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-27

Protest

In a statement protesting President Roosevelt’s message to the senate and the protocol between the United States and Santo Domingo (now the Dominican Republic) signed on February 7, 1905, the history and application of the Monroe Doctrine is examined in detail, and arguments are made against Roosevelt’s protocol based on that understanding.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-17

The observance of neutrality by China

A compilation of letters between Russian Ambassador Arthur Paul Nicholas Cassini, Secretary of State John Hay, and Chinese Ambassador Cheng Liang discussing China’s violation of neutrality.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-23

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of State Adee informs President Roosevelt that, per precedents set in similar cases, the crew of the disabled Russian cruiser Lena must be held in San Francisco until their parole conditions have been set and approved by Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-14

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of State Adee includes a draft of a telegram to Russian embassy secretary Arthur Paul Nicholas Cassini regarding the Russian cruiser Lena, which is stranded in San Francisco. The telegram states that President Roosevelt has only authorized the minimal repairs necessary for the ship to be seaworthy enough to make it to the nearest home port.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-14

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of State Adee submits cablegrams for President Roosevelt’s approval. He instructs Shanghai consul John Goodnow that his purpose is to safeguard American neutral interests in China and to avoid any implication that the United States will guarantee Chinese neutrality. He sends a copy of the same telegram to Minister to China Edwin H. Conger.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-23

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of State Adee tells President Roosevelt that he does not believe that Admiral Yates Stirling’s discretion in an emergency should be hampered by Stade Department instructions. He also believes that U.S. consuls in China should focus on safeguarding American neutral interests, rather than committing to anything that would lead them to be called on to guarantee Chinese neutrality.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-23

General order no. 154

All civil, military, and naval officials are to observe President Roosevelt’s proclamation of neutrality in the conflict between Russia and Japan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-11

Letter from Henry Codman Potter to Theodore Roosevelt

Bishop Potter expresses his gratitude for and agreement with President Roosevelt’s “proclamation on the true meaning of neutrality.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-03-10